Exchange of Knowledge and Encounters between Indigenous and Spanish Medical Practices during the First Century of Spanish Conquest in Chile

Abstract

This article aims to identify how the coexistence between indigenous and Spanish medical practices developed in Chile in the first century of conquest. In relation to the methodology of this research, all the available primary sources that record the experience of conquerors and religious in Chile at the time have been reviewed, and they were searched for records of exchange, coexistence and intercultural dialogues in the medical field. The results show numerous historical records of coexistence between the two cultures in the health field, evidenced in various ways, which will be explained in this article. We conclude that the differences that separated both cultures were manifested mainly in other aspects, not so in the medical field, where there was an exchange of knowledge, cultural valuation, coincidences, hybridity and even joint practices.